Dr Stephen Hawking in 1988 with the chair for sale at Christie's (Image: Mirrorpix)

A collection of medals and awards bestowed on the luminary during his illustrious career, including honours from the Royal Astronomical Society, sold for £296,750 - when they were expected to go for £15,000.

Meanwhile a 1988 copy of the thinker's best-selling A Brief History Of Time - 'signed' with a thumbprint - was bought for £68,750 when it was estimated to go for between £2,000 and £3,000.

There were also items that reflected the star physicist's prominence as figure of pop culture, with a script from his "appearance" in The Simpson in 2009 selling for £6,250, while a bomber jacket worn by Prof Hawking was purchased for £40,000.

A bomber jacket given to Stephen Hawking (Image: AP)

In total the items from his estate sold for £1,384,625.

Having lived with motor neurone disease for most of his 76 years, Prof Hawking's wheelchair became part of his identity as a global figure.

The red leather and maroon motorised BEC Mobility wheelchair used by him in the 1980s and 1990s was sold to benefit the Stephen Hawking Foundation and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Other items in the sale were auctioned as part of the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme, administered by Arts Council England.

The AIL enables taxpayers to pay inheritance tax by transferring important works of art and other important heritage objects into public ownership.

Ahead of the auction, which ended on Thursday, the physicist's daughter, LucyHawking, said: "We are very pleased to have the assistance of Christie's to help us with the important matter of managing our beloved father's archives and his unique and precious collection of personal and professional belongings, chronicling his life and work.

"We hope to be able to offer our father's archive to the nation through the Acceptance in Lieu process as we feel it is a huge part of his legacy but also of the history of science in this country.

"We are also giving admirers of his work the chance to acquire a memento of our father's extraordinary life in the shape of a small selection of evocative and fascinating items."